Childhood Summer Memories
by Incy Little Spider
Summary: A long time ago when Sally Hardesty was a little girl, someone visits her Grandfather's house in the summer. It might be the crazy family her parents warn her away from...although they all seem very normal to her. But why do they make her feel so uneasy?


The little girl was lying, hidden from view on her stomach underneath the kitchen table, playing with her dolls. It was a stinking hot day and she had to keep on pushing her sweaty blond hair out of her eyes. She didn't really like it at her Grandfather's house. She visited for a week every few summers with her brother and it was never a lot of fun. She would always have to go out in the boiling hot sun to play with Franklin which would always end up in a tantrums and screaming matches.

It was actually Franklin she was hiding from now. They had been outside in the swimming hole and she had casually splashed some water at him. He had glared at her and splashed some back. Giggling, she swam up and dunked his head under the water. The boy had kicked and thrashed around like a fish on the line and punched her in the leg. Laughing, she let go. His head broke the surface and the girl's grin immediately fell when she saw his tear streaked face.

"Why'd you do that for?" He wailed, shoving her angrily. The girl sighed with annoyance.

"I was just teasing ya, Franklin, jeez!" She said as the boy continued to snivel.

"It ain't funny, Sally! It just ain't funny at all!" He shouted back at her and she glowered at him.

"You're no fun! You're just a big baby!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate you more!"

"Go away!"

"You go away!"

Franklin shoved her again and she splashed more water at him. Feeling the beginnings of tears prickle behind her eyes, she turned and swam away from him. Scrabbling onto dry land, she ran, forgetting her sandals, up towards the house.

"Sally! I'm sorry, I don't really hate you! Sally, come back!" The girl ignored her brother's wails, her dripping wet hair flying behind her. She was heartily sick of Franklin and staying at her Grandpa's house.

This is how she found herself underneath the table, wishing she had some of her friends to play with. She wished she could explore around outside more but she knew deep down that it was a bad idea. The first thing her Grandpa would tell the two kids whenever they stayed at his house was, "don't go wanderin' off now. Don't go lookin' for trouble."

Sally knew he was talking about the house nearby. Franklin avoided it like the plague because of the things their father said about it.

"Don't want them kids near that house. There's somethin' not right about those people who live there. Full of nut jobs and retards."

Their mother had hushed him angrily and dropped the kids at their Grandpa's house anyway. Sally had always tried to convince Franklin to go see what it was like but he always refused.

A few summers back she had crept up as close to the house as she could. She went on her stomach so she couldn't be seen, ruining her shirt and scraping her knees. She peeked behind some scrub and was immediately confused. The house was painted white and seemed nice and well kept, better looking even then her Grandpa's house. She noted with jealously, the big white swing near the front of it. She'd love to have a go on that.

She remembered seeing a huge, dark, lumbering figure sitting quietly on the swing, moving slowly up and down, feet stuck out in front of him. As Sally watched him swing up and down she began to wonder if her Daddy was wrong about the people who lived there. The man on the swing seemed harmless enough.

When she had crawled back, she faced Franklin's wrath and they had another big fight, ending with her brother dobbing her in to their Grandpa and Sally getting a hiding. She had avoided the place ever since.

The girl was growing bored with her dolls and her sweat-soaked singlet was sticking to the wooden floor. She was just thinking about ending her feud with Franklin and joining him again in the swimming hole when she heard the sound of car tires crackling over the gravel outside the house. Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she lay down still and quiet as she listened to the sound of the car door open and then slam shut. She wondered idly who it was but knew she shouldn't run up to investigate.

"When you're over at your Granddad's house, I don't want you talkin' to no-one you don't know. You understan'?" Her father had told her and her mother had told him not to frighten them. Sally wondered again why her Daddy disliked her Grandpa's neighbors so much. They didn't seem too bad to her.

She heard her Grandpa's familiar loping walk crunching over the dry, sun-baked earth outside the window.

"Hullo Drayton. How yer goin'?" His lazy voice drawled and the little girl bit into her doll's head nervously.

"Fine thanks…err…I was just returnin' those tools you lent me a few weeks ago…"

"Thanks. Say, you wanna come in for a beer?"

Sally hoped sincerely that the stranger would decline the offer.

"Aw…I don't think so Joe…"

_Yes, _the girl thought triumphantly to herself.

"C'mon, it's boilin' out here. Nice cold drink, cool yer down."

Sally mentally cursed her Grandfather's hospitality.

"Well… I'll just stay a minute."

The girl kept as silent as possible as the two men entered the house and made their way towards the kitchen. She watched her Grandpa's worn work boots make their way across the wooden floor towards the fridge. The smell of sweat, motor oil and some faint, coppery scent, invaded her nose as the stranger settled down onto a chair at the table. If he stuck his boot out, he would kick her in the face. She tried to breathe shallowly, to avoid the man's stench but her lungs began to protest after a few minutes.

Soon her Grandpa sat himself down at the table as well, setting the bottles down with a clink. If he stretched out his legs, he would kick Sally in the side. She was feeling more and more anxious by the second. She heard the crack of the bottles opening and soon Grandpa began to speak again.

"True the slaughterhouse's shuttin' down?" Sally saw the stranger shift slightly in his seat and she tried as quietly as possible to squirm away from him.

"Err…not too sure…think it might be," he replied.

"Watcha brothers gonna do for jobs if it does?" Her Grandfather asked lightly and there was an uncomfortable pause. Sally's eyes slid down to the stranger's boots. There was a splash of something dark red on the laces of his boots. A slow trickle of unease began to go through her.

"Not too sure at the momen'. Might get Nubbins to help out at the gas station…" he said.

"Well yer know, they can always help over here if they like," her Grandpa offered and Sally saw the stranger shift around in his chair again.

"Ah…thanks Joe. Not sure if they'd behave themselves though. Migh' scare your grandkids a bit," he replied, drawing his words out slowly and carefully. She heard her Grandfather chuckle into his beer bottle.

"Knowin' Franklin, I'd say you're probably right Drayton," he chortled and he leant back on the legs of the chair. She saw his crinkled neck turn as he peered out of the window if suddenly remembering the fact that he had two children under his care and they were running around his property. After staring out the window for a few seconds, he creaked back into his seat.

"Dun' knows if Sally would mind them much. She makes friends pretty easily," he remarked and the girl turned scarlet from underneath the table.

"Heh…well I'll think abou' it Joe. Thanks for the offer," the stranger said, his boots stretching out a little. Sally squirmed back again, the boots nearly scraping her nose, her heart thundering in her chest.

"I…I best be off. Got business to attend to," he finished and to the girl's intense relief, his chair scraped back across the wooden floorboards and he got to his feet. She heard her Grandfather Follow suit.

"Sure you don't want another beer?" He offered and it took all her strength not to kick at his ankles in frustration.

"Nah…I'm fine thanks. Best be goin'," the stranger replied. Sally watched as the two men creaked over the dusty wooden floor again and back outside. She let out a low, rattling breath, clutching her doll to her breast. She lay there for a moment before sliding out from under the table and getting to her feet. A wave of dizziness went over her and she wavered on the spot for a second before regaining her posture. She skittered over to the window, stood on her tiptoes and looked out of it.

She saw her Grandfather walking off in the direction of the swimming hole and the stranger climbing back into his pick-up truck. She could only see the back of his head and his stringy, sweat-soaked black hair. Sally watched him curiously as he started the engine and began to back away towards the road.

Her Daddy was wrong. Her neighbors weren't weird or bad at all. They smelt terrible though. Despite her positive thoughts she couldn't help but still feel uneasy. She had no idea why.

As she continued to stare after the truck, the stranger suddenly jerked his head and turned to lock eyes with her. He raised a hand in a silent greeting and smirked. She muffled a shriek and nearly tumbled backwards. Catching herself at the last minute, she stuck her little hand up and waved back.

They _were_ nice.

A bit strange.

A bit smelly.

But no-one could be as bad as Franklin.

They seemed completely and utterly normal.

And why wouldn't they be?

Shaking her head, she ran off out of the house barefoot across the sun-baked earth, to rejoin her brother at the swimming hole.

* * *

**A/N It's not great...and it doesn't have torrents of gore and sex in it...which probably makes it boring. And not enough Leatherface. But screw it, Drayton's more awesome in my book...cause I thought he was a normal, good guy and was sighing with relief when Sally ran into him in the first movie. And then he turned around and went psycho and I freaked out. Totally tricked me. So I was always really interested in Sally apparently spending parts of her childhood in walking distance of the Sawyer family...well at least I though she did. I might of misinterpreted parts of the movie and everyone's wondering what the hell i'm smoking. whatever. Hope you liked it and don't forget to review or I'll get my grandpa to suck your finger and hit you in the head with a mallet. ^^**


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